Looking for newspapers with (effective) credibility

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By JEAN PIERRE CHAUVIN*

It is tragicomic that there are “good” internet users who persist in defending certain vehicles from the so-called mainstream press

He has the habit of “leafing” printed or digital newspapers; person “has” a profile (authentic or fake) registered on social networks. Both woke up to the news that the Federal Police carried out the search and seizure today, January 29, 2024, when investigating what was in the (not at all modest) mansion of one of the sons of the former President of the Republic.

Days earlier, information had circulated that eighteen mayors from the Liberal Party, all elected in the State of Santa Catarina, were arrested within a record period of one year and two months.

Not long ago, data was released on the trial of a former judge and (still) senator, who, until recently, graced the covers of “credible” magazines wearing the clothes of a Superman canary; He also starred in a film that took itself seriously, as an actor from the global broadcaster.

At this point in events, only extreme impudence, combined with mythomania (drawing: a mania for lying) and opportunism, can justify the existence of apologists for the beings who, since the “great national agreement”, announced by Romero Jucá in 2016, took this neocolony of the United States of America by storm.

It is tragicomic that there are “good” internet users who persist in defending certain vehicles from the so-called mainstream press, as if they were unquestionable, impartial, socially interested and impartial newspapers and magazines. By repeating the mantra of neutrality, we are left in doubt whether the refrain is a product of naivety or malice: impure and simple.

Obviously, I do not suggest that every editor, reporter, columnist, writer or special guest is devoid of the best intentions, or does not shine with good character; however, we must remember the ability that some vehicles (and their messengers) have to alternate the concavity of the magnifying glass and the rigor of the judgments, depending on the suspects and respective captions involved (1) in the plots investigated; (2) in illicit actions; (3) hate speech; (4) denialist attitudes; (5) in (already) proven acts of corruption; (5) in attacks against democracy, etc.

When Fernando Haddad was mayor of São Paulo, a renowned semiotician suggested (mistakenly?) that the color of the cycle paths alluded to the color of the Party to which he was affiliated. In 2018, there were those who suggested that it was “very difficult” to choose between the unmentionable and Fernando Haddad, when voting for one of the presidential candidates. Shortly afterwards, a renowned historian questioned why “no one killed this jararaca”.

What name can we give to speeches of this style, style and virulence? Republicans? Honest? Seasoned?

Is it legitimate, and legally acceptable, that, in the name of press freedom, experts pretend to confuse partisanship with the sign embedded in the colors of a banner (which continues to be dyed red in several capitals of capitalist countries on the planet)?

Is it justifiable that, under the fallacy of polarization (which has always existed, after all the country is unequal), the newspaper equates a university professor with a guy whose “specialty is killing”, disregarding the abyss that distinguishes them intellectually, culturally, socially and politically? Is it tolerable for a guy who knows the country's history so well to echo, without any embarrassment, the hate speech found in the worst examples that frequented parliament?

Where is the credibility of the newspapers and magazines that usually serve as a “trustworthy source” for the shallowest arguments of their readers, including the most “intellectualized” sectors of the neoliberal right?

What difference is there between articles of this type and the unsupported barbarities, replicated by hollow and hypocritical types via messaging apps?

*Jean Pierre Chauvin Professor of Brazilian Culture and Literature at the School of Communication and Arts at USP. Author, among other books by Seven speeches: essays on discursive typologies (Cancioneiro Publisher) [https://amzn.to/3sW93sX]


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